Nintendo Direct: May 17th, 2013 – The Games of Summer

Friday, May 17th, 2013

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Everyone in the gaming world feels the looming specter of E3 approaching. As we all know too well, Nintendo is not holding a Press Conference during E3 2013. Instead, they promised two smaller presentations for those in attendance, and… more ways to bring news/announcements directly to Nintendo fans. To that end: this morning’s Nintendo Direct. This one will be followed by at least one more before E3 begins on June 11th. I wonder what announcements will come forth. Without ado, ladies and gentlemen: a Nintendo Direct focused on the games of summer!

A new Wii U game in the Mario & Sonic Olympic Games franchise has been announced! It will take place in Sochi/Russia. After a brief “geography lesson”, Iwata discussed tons of details about the game, including its Wii U-specific features.

Sonic: The Lost Worldhas been announced exclusively for the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS. Nintendo has formed a partnership with SEGA regarding Sonic the Hedgehog. More information regarding this game will be shared during the Nintendo Direct airing closer to E3. (I suppose fans would want to know about the Yakuza HD Collection headed to Wii U, but unfortunately this news remains Japan-exclusive…for now.) For more information regarding the partnership between SEGA and Nintendo, refer to this blurb:

SEGA(R) of America Inc. and SEGA(R) Europe Ltd. today announced details of an exclusive partnership with Nintendo of America Inc. and Nintendo of Europe for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The new agreement will make Nintendo consoles the number one destination for Sonic gaming over the next three titles with more details of the individual games being revealed in the coming weeks.

For you Virtual Console fans, plenty of Sega Game Gear games are headed your way this summer. Here you are, folks, a list of games:

More information has been revealed for the two Zelda: Oracle games. The games will be offered for $5.99 each. For the first three weeks following their launch, they’ll be available for $4.99 each. That’s less than $10 for both, to encourage players to experience the various connectivity features in-game.

After a discussion regarding Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (we have a review of that game coming soon, courtesy of Josh Speer!) and Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (May 24th, 2013), Nintendo talked more Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Remember, folks: that game’s headed our way on June 9th, 2013, the day before all the E3 fun begins. They’re launching a video series with insights about the game, Swapnotes, and Puzzle Swap.

Since this presentation is focused on the games of summer, I expected to see more information about Game & Wario and New Super Luigi U. Lots of information was shared about Game & Wario is coming to the Wii U eShop on June 23rd, 2013 at $39.99. If you’re itching for more information about Game & Wario, do check out the Iwata Asks about the game. And hey, we have a definitive release date for Luigi’s next adventure! NSLU is set for release on June 20th, 2013, and will be priced at a decent $19.99. Nabbit will actually be a playable character in multiplayer mode. If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out my detailed review of the original New Super Mario Bros U. No doubt, you can expect my impressions on the DLC package before long.

New Super Luigi U will be purchasable as a standalone game on August 25th, at $29.99. Nintendo wanted to go the extra mile, since this is the Year of Luigi.

Next up, there was talk about Resident Evil Revelations on Wii U. Capcom has added characters to the various modes of the game, and lots of Gamepad features as well. This game will be released on May 21st, 2013.

The Wonderful 101 is a unique experience often alluded to as coming to the Wii U “within launch window”. With those beginning months long since behind us, many wondered when the game would see an actual release date. Well, folks—today’s the day our questions are answered. The Wonderful 101 will be released in North America on September 15th, 2013. And a release date of August 23rd, 2013 was revealed for our friends in Europe.

After talking TW101, Iwata talked more about Pikmin 3. It will not have time-limits, as supposed in previous information. Iwata took a few minutes to discuss various game modes, character details, and control options. Wii Remote + Nuncheck, Wii U Pro Controller, everything you can think of. There are lots of options! And there’s even off-screen play. This game’s North American launch is re-confirmed for August 4th.

Reggie appears! Nintendo has partnered with Best Buy to bring exclusive, unreleased games to players during E3. Here’s a relevant blurb from our Press Email:

Experience Games from Nintendo’s E3 Booth at Best Buy: Exclusively at participating Best Buy locations in the United States and Canada, consumers will be able to play some of the unreleased Wii U games featured at E3 while the event is occurring in Los Angeles. Details about locations and which games will be featured will be revealed in the coming weeks.

That’s a wrap! Yet another Nintendo Direct is behind us! For once, I don’t have work to blast off to just after a morning presentation, so I’m going to be the one sticking around this time. I’ll be updating this post live throughout the day with additional assets, trailers, and information as I get them. Just think, there’s another one of these right around the corner. And you Microsoft fans have the next Xbox reveal on Tuesday! These truly are exciting times. It’s not just a great time to be a Nintendo fan, it’s great time to be a gamer! If this particular Nintendo Direct didn’t offer enough “bombs” for you, here’s a little tip from Iwata/confirmation that I’m going to get zero sleep preparing for next time…

I’ll see you then, ladies and gentlemen. And remember: you can always take a look at all the information from the Nintendo Direct presentation for yourself here. You can watch the whole presentation below.

About Jonathan Higgins

[Former Staff] Jonathan parted ways with Operation Rainfall on June 15th, 2014. You can follow him on Twitter @radicaldefect.